(then in Boston) in 1876, to “explore the
mountains of New England and adjacent
regions, for both scientific and artistic purposes,” and members built a simple stone
hut in the saddle between Mount Madison and Mount Adams in 1888. But when
two climbers started up Mount Washington on June 30, 1900, to attend the annual
AMC meeting at the Summit House hotel,
a summer storm was brewing and that lone
hut was nowhere near them. Both were in
excellent shape (one was a founder of the
New York Athletic Club), but with no refuge available, neither could survive the
hurricane-force winds and sleet that hit
that afternoon; the storm lasted 60 hours.
As a tribute to the men, the club erected a
wooden hut not far from where they died.
Rebuilt in stone in 1915, with many tons of
materials carried up the mountain by the
construction crew, the Lakes of the Clouds
hut is now the flagship of the AMC shelter

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“Mrs. Winsor sat in
front of a table, serving
hot coffee and tea to
the grown-ups and
marshmallows and
cocoa to the children.”

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system, with each hut within a day’s hike
from the next.

It doesn’t take a 60-hour tempest to
make a body yearn for some heat. New England skaters have long been able to glide
off the ice and into pond-side huts, where
a roaring fire thaws their outsides and hot
chocolate (or something stronger) warms
their insides. One of the most comfortable
around is the Norwegian-style clubhouse of
the Cambridge Skating Club, built in 1930
and fronting on five flooded and frozen tennis courts. Inside is a magnificent lofted
great room in dark-stained wood, with an
upper gallery, the requisite massive stone
fireplace, restrooms, and a kitchen that
constantly puts out fresh hot chocolate-chip cookies. Members (Cambridge res-